Awesome Tech

This handy accessory turns Leatherman multitools into a portable battery tester. It takes advantage of the metal construction of the tools to conduct power and can display voltages from 2.5 to 30 VDC using a set of yellow, red, and green LEDs. It’s compatible with the Leatherman Signal, Wave, Skeletool, Surge, and Bit Extender.

This substantial bit of kit from radio maker Eton can tune in radio broadcasts on just about every wavelength. It can receive signals in AM, FM, LW, SW, SSB, and VHF aircraft bands, and has a built-in 360º rotating AM antenna to help pull in the most distant signals. Its digital tuner can store up to 100 channels per band.

This super-bright bike light is as brilliant as some car headlights, improving nighttime safety. The Focus can blast out up to 5000 lumens on command. A remote trigger mounts on your handlebar so you can operate it without taking your hands off. It offers up to 500 high-beam flashes per charge or 20 hours in beacon mode.

Vornado’s uniquely-styled heater circulates hot air throughout the whole room while remaining cool to the touch. Its aircraft engine-inspired mid-century modern design features a 20º tilting head for directing heat where you want it.

In the early days of Netflix, they shipped movies on DVD through the mail. Before that, movies came on VHS tapes from places like Blockbuster. Modder Marina Fujiwara was feeling nostalgic, so she decided to rig up an old VHS tape player to stream Netflix shows when a cassette is inserted into its mechanism.

Unity is one of the most powerful graphics and gaming engines out there, and it keeps getting better. Led by Creative Director Veselin Efremov, the Unity Demo Team put together Enemies, a short film that shows off Unity’s HD render pipeline, adaptive probe volume lighting, strand-based hair, and lifelike digital human capabilities.

LEGO builder and coder ord shows off a machine they built using Mindstorms components that can draw images on paper. They programmed it using Pybricks, a framework for controlling LEGO motors and hubs. While it’s not as precise as an off-the-shelf plotter, it’s impressive for a LEGO build. It also looks like a tank.

At first glance, this hurricane lamp looks like a classic oil lantern, but it’s actually packed with modern technology, using a vintage-style LED bulb as its light source and cranking out tunes from its Bluetooth speaker. Its light is dimmable and burns for up to seven hours, while its speaker plays for five hours per charge.

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When we first read the headline for Nick O’Hara’s Golf Club Shooter, we thought it was for throwing clubs when you’re having a bad day. But it’s much more helpful. This machine is a remote-controlled caddy that rotates to the specific club you want then tosses it to you. It can also recommend a club using a voice assistant.

Researchers at MIT CSAIL have been working on improvements to its Mini Cheetah quadruped robot, among them a model-free learning that helps it figure out how to traverse varied terrain through trial and error. Along the way, the little guy managed to set a new speed record for its platform – 3.9 m/s (~8.7 mph).

These colorful LED pixel displays from Neutronshop come pre-programmed to display stock tickers, cryptocurrency prices, a COVID-19 tracker, NBA scores, Twitter trends, and more. Each one can also display animations. After a USB-based setup, they update via Wi-Fi so don’t need to stay connected to a computer.

The powerful Mac Studio is small enough to take on the road. Waterfield’s handcrafted Shield case offers protection and style when transporting your precious Mac. It’s made from full-grain leather and ballistic nylon or waxed canvas and has a padded interior lined with a soft cashmere-like material. A shoulder strap is available too.

This handheld color printer can print on any surface, including fabric. When combined with its optional docking station, it works as a traditional inkjet printer capable of printing on A4, A5, or A6 size paper. From the looks of the prototype, its full-sheet prints are a bit stripey, but it still looks like a versatile little gadget.

“It’s like my head is the Razor Crest.” Maker and Mythbuster Adam Savage shows off one of his more amusing builds – a head-mounted device that can fire dozens of foam darts in seconds. He started out with a pair of circular D-Dart Pro Blasters, modded them to be more powerful, and to be fired via a remote control.

Get up close and personal with the birds that stop by your yard with the Birdbuddy. This modern bird feeder has a high-resolution camera that automatically captures photos and video of our fine feathered friends and alerts you to their visits on your smartphone. AI tech even identifies their species.